When Middletown resident Vance Walker’s family doctor developed lung cancer, the source or cause was a mystery for the nonsmoker, but when they found high levels of radon in his home, they had their answer.
It sparked Walker’s lifelong passion to spread the word to others about radon exposure, and he’s done so over the past several decades through his own small business and advocacy.
“Radon is a low-level radioactive gas and it’s the second-leading cause of lung cancer after smoking,” Walker said. “There’s no safe level of exposure but there’s a threshold, so say you are exposed to four picocuries – pCi, the unit of measure for the rate of radioactive radon in the air – 16 hours a day; it’s the same as getting 200 chest X-rays that year.”
He’s never found a home register zero on a radon tester, but it’s safe to say homes registering at less than 2.0 pCi is average. Between 2.0 and 4.0 pCi is the equivalent to 100 chest X-rays per year or eight cigarettes per day, and a level above 4.0 pCi is equivalent to 200 chest X-rays per year or a pack of cigarettes a day, according to the Kentucky Association of Radon Professionals.
You can’t taste, smell or see it, and it just so happens that Louisville-area soil is saturated with it.
Radon comes from a variety of minerals in uranium-bearing rocks. It’s most commonly found in black shale and the large shale belt spanning from New Albany, Indiana, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, making the Louisville area a hot spot.
Walker has even participated in experiments at a local middle school science fair.
“I had a buddy whose daughter wanted to learn more about this and we went out and collected samples of sandstone, limestone, soil and shale, and we put a 2-inch sample in the bottom of a drywall bucket with a radon tester inside,” Walker said. “All of the samples were very low except for the shale. It was at 70 pCi, just from 2 inches on the bottom of a bucket. That gives you an idea of how high it is.”
Walker launched Radon Management of Kentucky, Inc. in 1986, shortly after learning about his doctor’s diagnosis and the reason behind it.
He was trained by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Senior Scientists A.B. Craig and Paul Wagner as a part of the EPA’s radon proficiency program.
His mitigation company helps residents identify areas of high radon exposure, and offer solutions to reduce or eliminate the dangerous toxins in the home.
“It’s a system that creates negative pressure relative to the air pressure in the soil,” Walker said. “Soil gases are drawn into the building with this chimney or stack effect, and things in our homes add to that, like exhaust fans and clothes dryers. The home literally sucks the gas up out of the ground.”
Walker can overcome that natural pressure in the home through a series of drilling and piping, releasing the negative pressure in the home and reducing the amount of radon exposure. However, there are ways residents can start the process to see if there is a problem to begin with.
“You can buy test kits online or at a hardware store,” Walker said. “There are short-term tests homeowners can do themselves and those take two to seven days. There are also long-term test kits that can be used for 90 days to a year. If it comes back between four and 10 picocuries, you should do another test to confirm it and then call a mitigation company.”
The real estate market has adopted short-term testing for their inspections, requiring a repair during real estate transactions. Construction contractors have developed radon-resistant techniques on new-home builds to help mitigate future exposure.
Still, Walker has worked with numerous clients who have found the issue after a lung cancer diagnosis.
“There was a guy who brought national attention,” Walker said. “He worked at a tire plant in Pennsylvania and he kept setting off the radiation monitor when he went in to work. No one else set it off and when he went home, he didn’t set it off. A couple of days of this and they realized that his home had an abnormal amount of radon and he was literally carrying it around with him.”
Think of it as tiny particles in the air we’re breathing in all of the time. Walking around outdoors, you might be exposed to 0.5 pCi, but constant and concentrated exposure in a home or workplace is where the damage is done.
As the information becomes more widespread and residents become aware of the potential risks, the local government has established protocols to help mitigate the issue.
Walker sits on the Kentucky Radon Safety Board, appointed by Governor Andy Beshear. They are working on a variety of programs to help residents.
“We have a licensing program and outreach program,” Walker said. “We’re working on getting licensing established for contractors like myself so they have to be certified. We want those mitigating to have a permit.”
It’s important for residents to know the person they’ve hired to mitigate the problem has been educated and licensed to do the work.
They also want to spread the word, specifically in rural areas where residents may not have heard about the problem.
“We’re working on outreach to simply inform the public about the dangers, and we have a program for free short-term test kits,” Walker said.
Walker has shared the information with a variety of residents – those who panic and want to get their home tested immediately, and those who shrug it off and don’t feel the risk is important.
Regardless of how one feels about it, the result is an easy fix and awareness is the key.
“Years ago I worked for a guy, Dr. Salem George,” Walker said. “He was the nicest man and when we were done working on a project, he said, ‘This is kind of like seatbelts. It may or may not make a difference, but it’s not worth taking the risk to find out.’”
Visit radonmgtky.com and epa.gov to learn more.
